Orchestra of St. Luke's Five Borough Tour: The Music of Chen Yi

Chen Yi

As a prolific composer who blends Chinese and Western traditions, transcending cultural and musical boundaries, Dr. Chen Yi is Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, and a recipient of the Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her music is published by Theodore Presser, commissioned, and performed world-wide by such musicians and ensembles as Yehudi Menuhin, Yo-Yo Ma, Evelyn Glennie, Chanticleer, the Cleveland Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic, the Seattle, Pacific, Singapore, China National, San Francisco, Chicago, New Zealand Symphonies, the LA, NY, and China Philharmonics, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden, recorded on Bis, New Albion, New World, Teldec, Albany, Bridge, Naxos, and many labels. She has received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Columbia University in the City of New York. Major composition teachers are Profs. Wu Zu-qiang, Chou Wen-chung and Mario Davidovsky. She has been inducted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Letter.

Jeffrey Zeigler

Jeffrey Zeigler is one of the most innovative and versatile cellists of our time, “widely known for pushing boundaries and breaking conventions” according to Strings Magazine and “fiery,” a player who performs “with unforced simplicity and beauty of tone” by The New York Times. Acclaimed for his independent streak, Zeigler has commissioned dozens of works, and is admired as a potent collaborator and unique improviser. As a member of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet from 2005-2013, he is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Polar Music Prize, the President’s Merit Award from the National Academy of Recorded Arts (Grammy’s), the Chamber Music America National Service Award and The Asia Society’s Cultural Achievement Award.

Following his tenure with Kronos, his multifaceted career has led to collaborations with a wide array of artists and innovators such as Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Hauschka, Vijay Iyer, Robin Coste Lewis, Yo-Yo Ma, Julie Mehretu, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Foday Musa Suso, and Tanya Tagaq. He has also performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony, the Royal Danish Radio Symphony, the New Century Chamber Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra under the batons of Peter Oundjian, JoAnn Falletta, Dennis Russell Davies and Dmitry Sitkovetsky. Recent and upcoming concertos written for him include Andy Akiho’s Cello Concerto (Sun Valley Music Festival and the Oregon Symphony), Mark Adamo’s Last Year (at Carnegie Hall with the American Composers Orchestra), and Amy Brandon’s Simulacra (Open Waters Festival).

Mr. Zeigler has released 40 solo and chamber music recordings and has appeared with Norah Jones on her album Not Too Late on Blue Note Records. His most recent solo album, Houses of Zodiac, is his first full collaboration with his wife, trailblazing composer Paola Prestini. Strings Magazine described the album as “one of the greatest and most ambitious solo cello albums of all time.”

Also alongside Paola Prestini, Zeigler is the Co-Artistic Director of VisionIntoArt, a non-profit new music & interdisciplinary arts production company based in New York. Described by The New York Times as “always intriguing and frequently beguiling,” VIA “facilitates flamboyant, confounding and enticing collaborations.”

Zeigler is the Director of the National Sawdust Ensemble of National Sawdust and is a member of the Board of Directors of Chamber Music America and CelloBello and is on the Honorary Committee of the Sphinx Organization.

Chen Tao

Internationally acclaimed Chinese flutist, music educator, composer and conductor of Chinese orchestra, Chen Tao is the founder and director of the Melody of Dragon, Inc., co-founder and director of Melody of Dragon & the Youth, the artistic director and conductor of the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, and conductor of New Jersey Buddha’s Light Youth Chinese Orchestra. The executive chairman of NY Chinese Music Instruments International Competition since 2015 and Artistic Director of the New York Guqin Association, Chen Tao currently serves as Professor and Music director of Chinese Ensemble at Bard College. A 27th-generation musician of Zhi-Hua Buddhism music, Chen Tao was described by The New York Times as a “poet in music,” and his playing as “a miracle of the oriental flute.” Conductor Herbert Von Karajan praises him as an artist who “performs with his soul.” Chen Tao is a graduate and former Associate Professor at the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He was the winner of the 1989 National Folk Instrument Competition in China and has toured throughout U.S., Germany, Italy, France, England, Holland, Finland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. He has collaborated with the BBC Philharmonic and the National Orchestra of Lyon. His playing can be heard on several soundtracks of Hollywood movies including Seven Years in Tibet, Corrupter (with the New York Philharmonic) and on the PBS documentary Under the Red Flag.

Liu Li

Guqin virtuoso, educator, and president of the New York Guqin Association, Liu Li has been a frequent performer and lecturer throughout the country since she moved to America in 1994. Before coming to the US, she was Associate Professor at the Chinese Conservatory of Music, as well as a soloist in their Experimental Orchestra. She was a member of the Chinese Folk Music Orchestra, the Beijing Guqin Research Association and the Shanghai Jinyu Guqin Society. Liu Li’s collaboration with the New Music Consort of the Manhattan School of Music’s Chamber Orchestra received high critical praise. She has performed at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Japanese Society, La Mama Theater, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts and other New York venues. In February 1996, by invitation from Taiwan’s National Music Ensemble in Taipei, Liu Li held a concerto performance in the National Hall of Music as well as a lecture on Guqin music, both of which were critically acclaimed. In 2002, she collaborated on the movie music recording of “Hero” composed by Oscar winner Tan Dun with world famous violin master Itzhak Perlman.

Orchestra of St. Luke’s

Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) performs and produces in a variety of formats throughout New York City, including orchestral and chamber music series on each of Carnegie Hall’s iconic stages, programs focused on contemporary composers presented throughout the five boroughs, collaborations with Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Center, a composition institute, and much more. Many of OSL’s performances are presented for free through its education and community engagement programs, reaching over 12,000 students and families annually with accessible, interactive student concerts, a thriving youth orchestra, and mentorship programs for emerging players. OSL built and operates The DiMenna Center in midtown Manhattan — the city’s only rehearsal, recording, and performance space built specially for classical music — where it hosts thousands of musicians and audience members year-round.